President Pranab Mukherjee was accorded a ceremonial reception by Governor Urmila Singh and Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on his arrival on a three-day visit in Shimla.

He was given a guard of honour by the Rajput Regiment at the Kalyani helipad.

This is his first visit to the state after becoming the president.

He will address the state assembly this Friday and also deliver a lecture at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS) housed in the century-old Viceregal Lodge. He will also visit the Himachal Pradesh University and deliver the convocation address.﻿

23-May-2013Others

BJP demands FIR against Sheila Dikshit

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Delhi demanded that an FIR should be filed against Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit for supposedly misusing government funds for a so-called "political purpose".

The basis for lodging an FIR is a report by the Delhi Lokayukta, said BJP leader Vijender Gupta. He was referring to a report of Delhi Ombudsman, Manmohan Sarin, who accused Dikshit for misusing public funds by carrying out advertisements in advance of the 2008 assembly elections.

The BJP announced that it will also hold a protest at Dikshit's residence on Friday.﻿

23-May-2013Business

SBI profit drops 18.5 % in January-March quarter

The State Bank of India (SBI) said its net profit plunged by 18.54% to Rs.3299.22 crore in the quarter that ended March 31 due to low interest income and high provisioning.

This is the first quarterly drop in SBI's profit in the last two years. For the financial year 2012-2013, SBI posted a net profit of Rs.14104.98 crore, as measured up to to Rs.11707.29 crore in the previous year. SBI's total income increased to Rs.135691.94 crore for the year end March 31, 2013, as measured up to Rs.120872.90 crore in 2011-12.﻿

23-May-2013Sports

Sachin Tendulkar out of IPL with hand injury

Sachin Tendulkar won’t be playing further in the Indian Premier League (IPL) due to an injury to his left hand.

He has been ruled out of action for 3 weeks, according to the Mumbai Indians team.

He injured his left wrist and hand while batting on 13th May. Currently he is under rehab and is recovering well. The normal recovery will be around three weeks. It was reported that the results of the past nine days in rehab have shown improvement.﻿

23-May-2013Science and Technology

Daimler India to start exporting FUSO trucks from June

As per a senior official, German automobile Daimler AG will begin exports of FUSO range of trucks, which belong to Japanese Mitsubishi FUSO Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC), to Sri Lanka from its plant at Oragadam.

Daimler India Commercial Vehicles Pvt. Ltd, which is the Indian subsidiary of German automobile maker Daimler AG, rolled out its FUSO range of trucks from its plant near Chennai. These are to be launched in 15 markets across Asia and Africa.﻿

23-May-2013Entertainment

IPL spot fixing shameful, says Ranbir Kapoor

Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor expressed disappointment at the IPL spot-fixing scam, saying that it's shameful and that it tarnishes the entire platform.

He said that because of two or three bad people, the whole platform of IPL is spoiled as the entire country loves it and there are lots of players who are passionate and serious about it. Because of a few culprits their names are also stained, he added.﻿